Zhong Kui's Self-Awareness, Xuan Zi's Disgust

"Zhong Kui." Jing Hongchen called out to Zhong Kui.

"I wish for you to meet my grandson and granddaughter. You are all exceptional geniuses. While my grandson and granddaughter may not be as outstanding as you, they are still rare talents within the Sun Moon Empire. It would be beneficial for all of you to get to know one another."

At this moment, Jing Hongchen hoped that Zhong Kui would build a good relationship with his grandchildren, and this titan of the Virtue Hall used the word "genius" to describe Zhong Kui.

Deep down, Zhong Kui did not know how to respond. In his own view, he was no genius at all; he was a cheater relying on a system. He had always felt he was a fraud, but he could not voice such a thing.

Zhong Kui knew clearly that his talent was obtained through cheating. He was a cheater, someone with a system hack, not a true genius. Therefore, in his heart, he felt he had no right to be compared to geniuses like Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen.

Sometimes he truly wanted to tell the truth—that he had obtained everything through cheating—but the problem was that he could not speak of it.

"Meeting your grandson and granddaughter is, of course, no problem. However, the reason you are arranging this is because you hope I will participate in the Soul Fighting Tournament alongside them, right? After all, the tournament is starting soon, and it is said to be held in the Star Luo Empire. We should prepare ourselves, shouldn't we?"

"That is indeed the case. The Soul Fighting Tournament will be held in the Star Luo Empire; it is their turn to host this session. But the issue is that the Star Luo Empire is one of the Douluo Three Kingdoms, and Shrek is involved as well.

"To be honest, I am worried. If an exceptional genius like you is discovered by Shrek and the people of the Douluo Three Kingdoms, how could they possibly tolerate your existence for the sake of their own future? Although Shrek claims to be the continent's number one holy land and a great academy that has supposedly produced gods.

"But no one knows how much of that is exaggerated; I don't even know if they have truly produced a god. Our Sun Moon Empire has also spread rumors of a God of Soul Tools. Truly, I am deeply uneasy about you. Even if you go to the tournament completely unprepared, I believe that with your strength, you should be able to take the championship.

"You might even be able to break the status quo where Shrek dominates the Soul Master Tournament, but the problem is, if you do that, the countdown to your life will have already begun."

Jing Hongchen then produced some files. These were all former promising talents of the Sun Moon Empire who had been killed in battle by people from Shrek, or even by the Shrek elder Xuan Zi and other contestants from the Douluo Three Kingdoms, during the Soul Master Tournament (the Soul Fighting Tournament).

"The people of the Douluo Three Kingdoms are not stupid. How could they allow exceptional talents to continue living in the Sun Moon Empire and creating benefits for us?

"When war breaks out, what are we to do about the people of the Douluo Three Kingdoms? Shrek is the same.

"If your exceptional talent is revealed, you will only be targeted by the Douluo Three Kingdoms and Shrek, especially that Xuan Zi. Xuan Zi's personality is cold and disgusting.

"Why do I say this? Because on the surface, Xuan Zi is a reasonable, righteous, and excellent senior of Shrek, but his essence is merely someone who will stop at nothing for the glory of Shrek.

"For this so-called Shrek glory, he has killed many contestants from the Sun Moon Empire. These contestants were injured while fighting Shrek's participants, and then he would fly into a rage, claiming the Sun Moon Empire's contestants were intentionally causing harm, and would then execute them.

"Some of the Sun Moon Empire's seedlings were not killed by Xuan Zi directly, but were killed by people from the Douluo Three Kingdoms during combat. Since the referees at the time were their own people, no one could do anything about it, and our Sun Moon Empire could never get justice."

These were all cases from years when the tournament was held in the Douluo Three Kingdoms. The organizers watched as these students were brutally murdered but chose not to impose any penalties because Xuan Zi was a man of Shrek, and his actions bought the Douluo Three Kingdoms time to breathe.

There were many cases of Sun Moon Empire contestants being killed by participants from other countries.

"Therefore, you must be careful no matter what. I will personally go to the Soul Master Tournament to protect your safety. I will bring Soul Tools, and if those from the Douluo Three Kingdoms dare to cause trouble, I will take them down with me to ensure your safety.

"But you must also be careful not to give Xuan Zi and his ilk any leverage, otherwise, the consequences will be very severe."

After hearing what the head of the Virtue Hall had to say, Zhong Kui understood why Jing Hongchen had warned him to be careful. It turned out that Shrek was unreasonable and had a long history of such precedents.

Moreover, relying on the fact that the previous competitions were held in the Douluo Three Kingdoms, they had killed so many of the Sun Moon Empire's excellent contestants. It was ruthless and completely unreasonable—no wonder!

"I understand." Zhong Kui, having the help of his system and his cheats, was naturally not afraid of those Title Douluo. After all, he possessed so many Dou Techniques and could hold his own against a Title Douluo for a while.

But the problem was that the team of contestants also needed to be protected; otherwise, the trouble would be immense.

"In short, trouble is coming with the Soul Fighting Tournament, and we must be prepared. Go and meet my grandson and granddaughter first. Have a good talk, and you can prepare for the tournament. Be careful of the other side.

"Who knows what kind of tricks the people of Shrek and the Douluo Three Kingdoms will pull."

"Understood."

Finally, Zhong Kui and Jing Hongchen arrived at the classroom. Everyone was in the middle of a lesson, and Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen were among them, studying Soul Tool technology. Seeing their grandfather arrive, the two stood up happily, but they were confused about the person next to him.

"Grandfather, who is this? Why is he with you?" Meng Hongchen asked at this moment.

"This is a new genius from our Sun Moon Empire Royal Soul Guidance Academy, his name is Zhong Kui."

"You're that 14-year-old level 62 Soul Emperor?! You look quite like an adult."

"I thought he would be a young, handsome guy. He looks rather mature and seasoned, but he's only 16. How did he end up looking like this..."

"Indeed, Zhong Kui's appearance cannot be called old, but it is true that he doesn't look his age. It must be caused by excessive cultivation, right?"